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May 14, 2005
Education in Jordan
One of the most interesting topics that has come up in my classes is the state of education in Jordan. The problem that we have noticed is the lack of critical thinking skills in the general population. Unlike the American system where we are taught to problem solve, Jordanians spend their education memorizing the answers to specific questions. The consequence of this is that you end up with a lot of smart people who can't even fill a stapler if they haven't been taught how!
The director at AMIDEAST says that this has even been a problem when he goes to hire for new positions. He hires great people and they work great untill they come across a problem that they haven't seen before. Even if it is a simple problem, they immediately panic and seek help.
Here, no one ever writes papers. They either take tests where they just reproduce the book or they write repors where they copy parts of several books. Plagerism isn't even a concept and is actually encouraged as a way to save time. It is amazing to watch my host sister just sit and copy down the important pages from her text books over and over and over as she studies. My previous post about my brother Mohammed is another example of this. He isn't willing to challenge his teacher because all he is expected to do is memorize the book!
The reason we have discussed this in class so often is because we are curious if this education system has had any effect on the government here in Jordan. Talking to Jordanians, when they are unhappy with the government instead of planning on changing making it better, they either plan on moving away or just living with the problem. They actually have no idea that they could try and reform the problem! In America, every unhappy 20something has big plans to reform the government but in Jordan they just resign to living in another country, most likely the US. This interesting problem might not be so aparent if students were taught to think critically of the world around them. If they had the skills to reason through their complaints and had the skills to effect change then Jordan might move toward democracy faster than the turtle pace it has been taking recently.
I'm really intereted in learning more about this topic so if anyone has something to offer, please chime in. I am beginning to think that we are on to something here that could really make a difference in the way the entire Middle East works. Of course, I may just be too optimistic.
Posted by rcollins at May 14, 2005 11:56 AM
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Comments
I've heard of things like this in other third-world countries (South America, I think). I think you've got a great idea but obviously the key is pinpointing the source of the problem. Paternalistic society? Lack of technology? Lack of motivation? Actually, I don't think lack of motivation is the problem, since I'm sure there are plenty of ambitious people out there. I really don't know...
Maybe the problem is cyclical, though. Then it's going to be hard to squash.
Posted by: Karl at May 15, 2005 4:09 PM
The interesting thing is that all I think it would take to change the problem is an education reform. Ok, so maybe that is a huge task but it could start small. One university or elementary school who started producing children who were willing to stay in Jordan after their education could change things a lot. Now all we need to do is find the person willing to do that!
Posted by: Rebecca at May 16, 2005 5:22 AM